


Firebird Squadron

by Exostrike



Series: Kallzeb and crew [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Escape, Established Relationship, Imperial Remnant, M/M, Mercenaries, Politics, Post-Star Wars: Rebels, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Space Pirates, Torture, Violence, kalluzeb - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-05-31 02:30:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19416637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exostrike/pseuds/Exostrike
Summary: After the fall of the empire Kallus and Zeb are partners (in more ways that one) in a mercenary company helping to bring stability to the galaxy. However when a simple pirate hunt will have them fighting for their lives.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel/continuation of my earlier story "Not where he'd expected to end up" 
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/16365101

“The new republic has been a disaster to the galaxy,” the short balding man said as the group ate in the massive banquet hall. Zeb grimaced. This had been a mistake. They had arrived on Oathea to oversee their mercenary company's new contract and their host had insisted they dine with him. “We were promised a return to stability and prosperity. Look what we have instead, economic collapse, a refugee crisis like never before, and a breakdown of law and order out here on the rim. At least one good thing you could say about the empire was that they kept order,” he continued. All throughout the meal Tel Ryen, the chairman of the Oathean ruling council had spoken warmly of the empire, how it had allowed the resources of the other rim to finally flow. Never mind that that had been achieved through the enslavement of millions and the strip mining of entire worlds. Kallus touched Zeb’s knee under the table, seeing the rash statement coming. It was probably unwise to insult their client.

“But surely Ryen, you must admit that much of the problems of the galaxy today was caused by the empire. Especially in its final days,” Kallus pointed out.

“Oh undeniably. Operation Cinder was a terrible thing and the empire was right to fall. I just wish that a quicker, more ordered transition had taken place,” Tel admitted, chucking into a roasted native bird.

“Don’t we all,” Zeb muttered sipping some wine to make Tel less grating.

“Yes, I must admit its an honour to meet a Lasat in person. The destruction of Lasan must have been a great loss,” Tel said making small talk.

“You have no idea,” Zeb replied truthfully.

“Still with the end of the empire I’m surprised that you aren’t trying to help rebuild your civilisation. In a galaxy this big a species never dies,” Tel said as if they were talking about some societal gossip.

“Unfortunately the empire did too good a job. I haven’t seen another Lasat since that day,” Zeb lied. Lira San was still a closely guarded secret to the Lasats and a few others.

“I’m impressed at what you have achieved here,” Kallus quickly changing the subject waved his arm out to the industrial cityscape that the ornate hall looked out over. “So many worlds out on the Rim have barely begun recovery.”

“Yes I’m proud of what we’ve done here. I can’t deny it wasn’t a bit of luck. If the war had come here we’d been like the rest of the local systems. While the loss of imperial contracts hit us initially the disruption of many corporation’s integrated supply chains created an opening and we took it. We’re now supplying even the core worlds with our exports,” Tel spoke animatedly.

“Yes, a true success story for these trying times,” Kallus agreed. He’d gone his research on the journey. Oathea a minor industrial world specialising in processing raw materials from the sectors many mining settlements into semi-processed goods for further industrial uses. Greatly expanded by the Empire to feed its war machine. Its lucky escape from economic collapse after the end of the empire was being heralded as an example of how the galaxy could rebuild.

“Of course we can’t rest on our laurels forever,” Tel continued as if reciting a speech. “The main corporations are already rebuilding their supply chains, the ones that haven’t been shut down of course, so we’re seeking to diversify. Commerce in the rim has been reduced as well and if we can give people the product now before shipping costs from the core come down. We’re hoping to bring out a line of low cost security craft to cater all the systems that need to start looking to their own security.”

Kallus gently brushed from crumbs from his shirt as he told a story about a planet where the people were lead by children. Years of imperial conformity and rebel fatigues have given him a desire to express himself visually, so he had chosen a shirt and trousers with red sash around his waist. Zeb had called it ridiculous and worse a only milder more formal jumpsuit that he usually wore. Tel in comparison dressed humbly, even if it was obviously his old imperial governor's tunic with the seal of the Oathean council added.

“Yes I see you take security pretty serious,” he said looking up at the imperial star destroyer in orbit over the city, a bright dot in the evening sky close to the orbital infrastructure.

“Ah, the  _ Star of Peace _ . The pride of our fleet.”

“I thought the imperial fleet had all been interned to be scrapped?” Zeb asked.

“Thankfully not. She suffered fatal hyperdrive damage and put in here to wait for a rendezvous with a repair ship. Repair ship never arrived so she was here when we rose up against the empire. Luckily I was able to talk her captain over to our side. When the new republic came to claim her they figured the cost of the repairs were going to be more than they would ever get for the salvage, especially given how flooded the market was. We were having some pirate problems, imperial holdouts operating from the outer planets so I was able to argue the ship had more value remaining here. They dismantled her weapons and hyperdrives of course so she’s pretty much a mobile fighter bay and orbital defence platform but still a good deterrent against pirates actually coming in system,” Tel explained.

“It didn’t look damaged when we flew past,” Zeb said.

“I understand it was an internal attack, sabotage by rebel commandos or a mutiny I think.”

“Still what does the people of Oathea think about these grand plans? I hear the council’s public support is muted” Kallus asked, growing tired of Tel’s showboating.

“I won’t admit that the council fully meets the democratic ideals of the republic,” a hard note appeared in Tel’s voice. “But we were in a moment of crisis. Someone had to step up and keep order.”

“I’m sure many leaders suffered the same choice,” Kallus admitted.

“But what about the people?” Zeb asked.

“I understand they are happy. Unemployment is down, conditions have improved now we don’t have imperial quotas to meet. They even have elected half the members of the council.”

“With the rest of them made up of the planet’s elites and corporations. With you as the deciding vote,” Kallus said, and a permanent veto he didn’t add.

“Exactly. The man in the middle balancing everything,” Tel explained, the hard tone disappearing again.

“Given how many forms of government there are in the galaxy I’m sure there are worse,”

“But the situation we have here could threaten it all. These pirate attacks threaten the flow of raw materials into our refineries which in turn threaten our contracts. If our clients pull out so does the economy as well and we’ll have revolution within a few months,” Tel said.

“Don’t worry Ryen, Firebird squadron will deal with this. While your own security forces may have struggled I can guarantee that within the month we will have beaten these pirates,” Kallus reassured. After helping prevent a civil war with a pre-emptive strike, solving the little matter of a pirate group seemed easy, especially at the rate Ryen was paying.

“I should hold you to that, but here I go again! Talking about business at the table. My wife always complains,”

“Where is your wife?”

“At Chandrila leading a diplomatic mission hoping to get some of the major corporations to set up factories here. But we’re talking about business again,” Tel made a mild laugh at this.

“But how did you two gentlemen get into the private military business anyhow. I thought the ideal of the rebellion was after the end of the empire we could all go back to being normal farmers and shopkeepers,” he continued.

“Well we’ve both been soldiers all our lives we didn’t have any other life to go back to,” Zeb said.

“That and we missed the excitement,” Kallus added, but at least these days there wasn’t the terror everyday that your betrayal would be discovered or the fear that every fire fight would be your last. He could never decide which one had been worse. “And at least this way we actually get paid for it too.”

“While still going good for the galaxy,” Zeb added.

They spend the rest of the evening swapping war stories. Despite being a governor he still had a few amusing tales, mostly second-hand. Zeb and Kallus shared some of their own, skirting around a few leading questions about their time on the Ghost. “We’ve all got our secrets,” Kallus winked.

“Well perhaps another time, when we have beaten these pirates. Still it is getting late. As my guests of honour, please accept my hospitality! I have had rooms prepared,” Tel said rising from the lounges they had moved to.

“Oh we will only be needing one,” Kallus said wrapping his arm around Zeb’s waist. Zeb watched Tel’s reaction, waiting for the surprise, slow disgust or when the simple oh he’d come to expect from most ex-imperials. Tel simply smiled as if he had heard a mild joke.

“Even in this galaxy there are still surprises,” was all that he said.

“You seemed quiet tonight,” Kallus asked as they walked down the corridors of the palace.

“I don’t like Tel or this contract,” Zeb admitted.

“I don’t know. He isn’t as bad as some ex-imperials we’re come across.” Zeb looked at security patrol went past. They weren’t storm troopers but he could recognise the armoured boots beneath the fresh blue paint.

“He doesn’t seem happy the empire is gone and I don’t see that much has changed around here beyond a coat of paint and a new flag.” he said after the patrol had disappeared around the corner.

“You have a point. But there are a number of new republic planets that are acting the same way,” Kallus pointed out as they arrived at their room. Their men were already there sweeping the room.

“Found anything?” he asked captain Plo, who was just packing up.

“Several listening devices and one visual,” Plo reported handing them the report. “They older models, probably installed when the palace was expanded. No sign of power in them or any external monitoring but they are likely to only turned on if there was a suitable target. We’ve set up a couple of jammers if they bring in mobile bugs,” she rattled off the main details.

“Good and have a good night,” Kallus said after being satisfied by the report.

“I’ve got the names of a dozen nightclubs to hit up first,” Plo smiled. Having a 40 hours biological clock had some advantages.

“You were saying,” Zeb asked as they entered the opulent bedroom.

“Fine. Your right he is far too fond of the empire. But he is trying to do what is best for his people. Anyway we can bill him extra for the bugs, undermining operational security,” Kallus said as they got ready for bed.

“I love that clause.” Zeb stripped off his jumpsuit while Kallus changed into a nightshirt.

They climbed into the oversized bed in the centre of the room. Zeb reached for the lube he’d placed on the side table.

“Not tonight. I think it's best if I’m able to walk properly” Kallus said touching Zeb’s arm.

“Fine.” Zeb’s arm reached under the covers. Kallus yelped as he found what he was looking for. “I have other ways.” Kallus leaned in to kiss Zeb his own hand reaching down as well. They messed around for a while before falling asleep, hyperspace travel was always exhausting.

* * *

It was the next morning and they were going through the data files the Oatheaian defences forces had sent over about the pirate attacks on the frigate. More secure against leaks and so they didn’t had the locals looking over their backs stealing strategies. Plo was there as well, despite reportedly dancing for 6 hours she was as focused as ever. “I don’t get this,” Zeb said putting down his dataslate.

“Don’t get what?” Kallus asked.

“Why pirates would be interested in targeting a bunch of ore transports.” Zeb pointed to the holomap of the local systems tracking the pirate attacks. “Most of these attacks are on the inflow of materials to Oathea, not the outflows of processed metals and a few local consumer goods. Neither is worth much on the black market but at least the metal would be easier to offload.”

“Which leads me to think this isn’t just some pirate fleet moving into new territory.”

“Could be a crime war? With the death of Jabba the cartels have been at each other’s throats,” Plo suggested.

“Not unless Oathea is supplying half the spice, drugs and slaves of half the outer rim and no one noticed,” Kallus pointed out. The numbers involved was far too big.

“Could it be rival freighter corporations trying to get a leg up and using mercenaries?” Zeb asked, bouncing possibilities around.

“Possible at least at first. But the attacks had hit all the transport fleets hard,” Kallus said switching the hologram to show the attacks in chronological order and flagging them by owner. The first attacks had been on Oathea’s state shipping company but had rapidly spread out to cover everyone. The lines owned by new republic worlds had been especially targeted, when those had pulled out, smaller companies and solo traders had taken their place, some had been totally wiped out.

“Hit by a rival corporation or planet?” Another good possibility.

“No, not really an obvious rival’s style, especially not with the new republic breathing down most their necks for supporting the empire. Sabotage of facilities here would be more corporate style, this simply disrupts Oathea’s trade in the short term while leaving its industrial capacity intact,” Kallus pointed out.

“Well we at least know where the attacks are usually happening,” Plo said switching the map to the point where most of the attacks were clustered. “The Xaef nebula is a major spatial barrier between Oathea and its most valuable mining systems. Most hyperspace computers plot of a long detour around,” she showed an example hyperspace route that shot far away from the nebular before travelling over it. “However most smart freighters instead jump to the edge of the nebula’s tips and cruise in real space for a few hours until they have a clear angle for a hyperspace jump to Oathea,” she showed the revised routes around the thinnest edges of the nebula.

“Where there are a lot of deep space asteroid fields and gas pockets, perfect for an ambush on an unprotected vessel. Surely they would have stopped using these shortcuts after the first attacks?” Kallus said.

“You’d think so, but the foundries have been offering such early delivery bonuses to make up for the disruption that many are willing to risk it. A few of them ran with fighter cover but they were never seen again so all the local pilots for hire don’t want to fly. Of course Oathea has started running convoys with what security ships they have so the pirates are starting to hit closer to the mines or targeting outgoing ships.”

“Have they ran sweeps?” Zeb asked.

“Apparently yes but given they are mainly using imperial equipment they have limited capacities. Anyway it appears the pirates don’t even come out unless its freighters. There have been no reported attacks on private craft or passenger ships,” Kallus said.

“So us aren’t going to be able to stumble across them just by flying around in the ship?”

“No, their attack patterns show they have hyperdrive capable ships their base could be anywhere. They might not even be in the sector,” Plo said.

“Have you checked the Oathea spaceport?” Kallus asked remember an old trick Spectre Squadron had used.

“Already thought of that, Oathea keeps a tight track of incoming, out coming ships, not enough military ships arriving, leaving at the same time to be the pirates. Got a team checking it out anyway,” Plo replied.

“What about leaks in sector command?” Being an ex-imperial world Oathea most major industrial activity was controlled by only a few corporations and most of it co-ordinated by the former governor's office. That included logistics with shipments being tracked all the time.

“They’ve plugged a few possible leaks but the attacks haven’t stopped. They haven’t even changed tactics.”

“Face it,” Zeb said getting up. “The only way we are going to find these pirates is if they come to us.”

“An excellent suggestion,” Kallus agreed. “I think we need some bait. Can you call in  _ Pathfinder _ ?”

“On it,” Plo said moving to the comms.

“Please don’t tell me you’re planning what I think you are?” Zeb asked.

“Oh I am,” Kallus smiled.

* * *

“This is a terrible plan,” Zeb sulked as they sat squeezed into the cockpit of the hulking medium freighter.

“What’s the problem? Not the first time we’ve done this?” Kallus pointed out as they came out of hyperspace. They were flagged as the independent freighter  _ Star of Commerce _ hired to transport silicon crystals for processing on Oathea. The flight plan was that they would cruise in realspace for a few hours to manoeuvrer around the Xaef nebular before re-entering hyperspace for the final leg of the route.

“Yeah but before we weren’t in this rust bucket” Zeb banged on the hull of the ship.

“Well the pirates have shown they only attack transport ships so anything else won’t draw them out.”

“I still don’t like it,” Zeb stared intently at the scanner. There wasn’t much else to do beyond admire the view.

“Hold one I think I’ve got something,” Zeb said after nearly an hour. Kallus leaned over to see five indistinct blips on the scanner closing fast.

“Looks like this is it,” he said as the blips resolved into a flight of fighters coming full on towards them. A mix of classes flying in a ragged formation.

“Shouldn’t we get getting out of here?” Zeb asked. Kallus angled the ship to keep the pirates out of range as long as possible and pushed the engines to maximum.

“Remember we’re a tramp freighter. We would be only just booting up the navcomputer,” he pointed out.

The lead ship boosted forward making an attack run. “Kallus,” Zeb said. Kallus remained calm as the attackers closed in, barely attempting any evasive manoeuvres. “Kallus, do it!” The enemy pilot was practically on top of them.

Kallus flicked a switch just before the enemy fired. The shots, aimed to disable, would have cut though their weak shielding instead was absorbed by the enhanced shields that Kallus had activated. “Now,” he finally said.

“At last,” Zeb replied activating the retractable panels to deploy the rapid fire blaster turrets. He got a burst off clipping the retreating starfighter but his shields took it. Gone where the days of bursting TIEs in a single shot. Kallus activated the secondary engines, turning their gunboat in disguise around to go on the offensive.

The enemy starfighters broke off their attack at this turn of events. “You boys ready?” Kallus asked on the comms.

“The wait as been killing me,” a voice came through. Two of the external containers on the outer hull shattered as explosive bolts fired, floating away to reveal two A-wing fighters ready for action. Releasing docking clamps they accelerated away to harry the retreating ships.

“There is another group of fighters coming in,” Kallus warned as he kicked the scanner into its high power military mode.

“I see them!” Zeb acknowledged, the ships coming out of a nearby asteroid belt to strengthen their comrades. Clearly the pirates were well organised to have a reserve in case of strong opposition. They were keeping their distance for the moment, but they were still outnumbered the three ships.

“OK let’s finish this. Alpha flight you are clear to engage!” Kallus decided, switching to another channel on the comm.

“Roger. jumping in,” Plo replied. A couple of seconds later their squadron a X-wing fighters jumped in. They’d been waiting for the signal a few light seconds away their navigation computers primed for a micro hyperspace jump to put them at the optimal point. Barely pausing the X-wings dived into the now boxed in pirates. Kallus moved the freighter in as well, using the bulk of the ship and its firepower to shatter the enemy formation and let the X-wings take them apart. The pirates fought better than expected, taking out one of the X-wings and forcing another two to disengaged but lost four and two other trailing smoke when they broke off. Clearly more than a few trained combat pilots on their side.

“They’re getting away!”, Zeb said taking a burst at one of the damaged ships that was travelling slow. One of the shots connected, sending the ship into an uncontrollable spin.

“OK. Acasta move in!” Kallus called in their final unit. The corvette Acasta jumped it in front of the fleeing ships, her blaster turrets opening up taking out the lead ship.

“They aren’t going to escape,” Zeb laughed with glee as the pirates formed into a defensive sphere.

They barely heard the hyperspace alarm before the wedge ship came out of hyperspace practically on top of them. Zeb looked up to see the outline of a Victory class star destroyer, its missile batteries already opening up. “Break! Break!” Kallus shouted into the comm. “Acasta get out of there!” Acasta started turning away but took an entire volley of missiles.

“Zeb, warm up the hyperdrive now!” Kallus ordered as the Acasta exploded.

“On it!” Zeb replied sliding over to the navigation position. The rest of the starfighters were scattering, jumped in random directions as the reinvigorated pirates counter attacked. Zeb though he saw Plo’s ship in flames. One the A-wings exploded as it jumped, sending a stream of wreckage shooting off into space at near light speed.

“Zeb, I need those co-ordinated!” Kallus angled the shields against the VSD as laser fire flashed past.

“Its coming!” Zeb said. they’d never bothered to upgrade the navigation computer or kept it primed during the fight. Nothing had said the pirates had this kind of backup.

The ship shook violently as they took a hit. Zeb barely need to look at Kallus’s face to know the worse. “Hyperdrive is down. Engines are gone” he said.

“At least they haven’t blown us out of the sky,” Zeb pointed out.

“No, they intend to board us,” Kallus replied as the ship shook slightly as a tractor beam locked on.

They prepared to make their stand in the rec room behind the bridge. Holding them off at the main docking port was pointless as there were any number of access points. At least this way they only had one direction to cover, unless they blew the cockpit but Kallus felt they wanted them alive rather than breathing vacuum. He readied his bo rifle at the corridor. It wasn’t his first bo rifle, that one Thrawn had kept and had been lost with him. However Zeb had gotten the craftsmen of Lira San to produce a new version for him. Though actually convincing them to give it to him had been difficult.

“So do you think they will take the docking port of the cargo bay?” Zeb asked from the other side of the room. They had been dragged to just under the VSD’s main hanger and they could see the shadow of incoming boarding craft while fighters circled them.

“Docking port,” Kallus decided. It was the most straightforward method. There was a muffled explosion somewhere in the rear of the ship. An alarm blared from the cockpit.

“Cargo bay,” Zeb corrected after glancing at the alert panel. Kallus focused his aim as they heard the oncoming sound of boots on metal. A flash of white armour at the end corridor caused him to fire off a few bolts. The figure pulled back and there was a few moments of muffled movement. He shifted his position in case they’d spotted him.

Several small objects thudded down the corridor. They instinctively ducked as the flash bang went off along with a smoke grenade. A classic storming pattern, flash to blind the enemy and the smoke to cover you from any that weren’t.

They fired blindly into the smoke as a spat of stunner shots swept the room. Zeb grunted as a shot clipped him sending his left arm limp. A second shot taking him out totally moments later. Further bolts hitting his body. Kallus saw the shape of a stormtrooper advancing out of the smoke. He got off another shot before a bolt hit him and the world disappeared in a burst of blue pain.


	2. Chapter 2

The pain of an electro-shock device brought him back to reality. He appeared to be strapped into a rack in what looked like a standard, if run down, imperial integration chamber. A technician raised the shock device again but when he saw Kallus was awake he lowered it, clearly annoyed he couldn’t use it again. “He’s awake, sir,” he said, stepping aside to let someone approach Kallus.

“Well hello, agent Kallus. I’ve been wanting to meet you for some time,” a human male spoke. He was a slightly dour face though it seemed more a case of long service to the empire rather than boner structure. He was clad in the body armour of an ISB agent, though he seemed to have added to it with a set of captain’s epaulettes and a bandoleer across his chest.

“I don’t think we’re been introduced,” Kallus said. The interrogator made to hit him but the man, signalled him to stop.

“ISB-4354, Felroh Chedona,” Chedona replied.

“I think you were a little bit after my time,” Kallus joked.

“Correct we’ve never meet. I was still in the academy when you defected. Though I was present on one of your talks on vigilance against internal dissent.” Kallus dimly remembered the talk, a mix of basic ideas wrapped up in propaganda with a few buzz words chucked in. “Your betrayal cost the bureau a lot of face. A senior agent suffering such a significant fall. Still it allowed those that argued for more extreme methods to maintain order to gain in rank. So I suppose I have you to thank for giving me a command position.”

“A bit rich coming from a common pirate, ” Kallus groaned as the interrogator jabbed the electro-shock again at the insult. Felroh let him keep the prod pressed against his flesh for a while before signalling to withdraw it.

“Hardly, while the empire may have died, betrayed by weaklings and cowards but I keep some of it spirit alive so one day it will rise. But I am also a practical man and my client is paying me well for this job.”

“So what do you want? If your hunting cargo ships we can’t tell you anything,” Kallus pointed out but he already suspected the truth. Felroh lashed out with his fist striking Kallus in the chest.

“With you? Pleasure mainly,” he admitted getting a few more hits in. “To have our greatest failure in my grasp is something I’ve thought about for a long time,”

“Is that all you’ve got?” Kallus wheezed.

“No but I have something better,” Felroh signalled the interrogator who pushed a holoprojector.

“My source says your Lasat companion is very close to you. Let's see how he is getting on.”

Zeb’s screams hit Kallus as the hologram flared to life showing him strapped to a rack similar to Kallus’s being shocked by electro-shock arms while several mean circled him with pain sticks jabbing him occasionally. “Leave him you bastard!” Kallus spat, the interrogator jabbing the electro-shock again.

“It appears my men aren’t being so gentle. But I trust them to keep him alive,” Felroh wipe the spit away.

“I’m the one you want,” Kallus stared into Zeb’s pained face.

“True, but his death will break you even before we actually start on you,” Felroh ordered the hologram to be cut off. “A Lasat? Really?” he commented walking out of the room.

They left him alone for a while, the interrogator simply watching him, occasionally piping the sound of Zeb screaming into the room but Kallus soon twigged that it was simply a looped recording. The interrogator was clearly annoyed by it and eventually stopped playing it. Then was a shift change, a new interrogator entered the room. “Remember the boss wants to be there when we start on him,” the old interrogator warned as he left.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to touch him” the new man said as the door closed. “At least nowhere that will leave a mark,” he added deactivating the surveillance system. “So your the Lasat fucker,” he commented drawing an electro-shocker from the rack. “I wonder what other aliens you’ve fucked,” he circled Kallus. “Neimodians perhaps, mon calamari?, even a damn wookie?” Kallus gave a sarcastic grunt at the last one. The man leaded in close aiming the shocker at his balls. “At least a twi’lek I could understand. Perhaps you’ve forgotten what a good hard human...”

Kallus headbutted him, knocking him back. He felt one of the arm restraints crack with the sudden movement. Cheap construction Kallus noted. That was what joining the rebels had made him realise about the empire everything was never quite good enough. Not that the rebels had better equipment but after the war when they’d gone private he’d been surprised at what he could buy. “Oh you’re going to get it now!” the interrogator rush him.

With almighty effort Kallus tore the restraint free and belted the man across the temple. Knocking him out cold. “It just a Lasat fucker,” he replied as he fiddled with getting the other restraints open. Plus that twi’lek at the academy he mentally admitted as he stepped free. He checked the interrogator, simply stunned, though the electro-shock solved that problem.

Stealing the man’s blaster and strapping him into the rack Kallus opened the door and looked outside. A standard imperial prison corridor with a security station at the end. Keeping to the shadows Kallus approached the station to see only a single guard at the duty station, his back to him engrossed in a holofilm. Clearly standards had slipped.

Kallus pulled back to think, he had to find Zeb and rescue him but where would he be. Think, this is an imperial warship. The Victory class had been relegated to garrison work so was not set up to hold a large number of prisoners so it only had a single detention area, that would mean Zeb must be in one of the interrogation rooms on this corridor. He looked back down the corridor, the in use lights glowed above the room he’d been in and the one next door. Surely they wouldn’t have been that lazy. Kallus paused at the door readying himself for what he would find beyond its sound proof construction. He pressed the button.

He came through the door way swinging. If they were still following imperial protocol for high risk prisoners there would be a guard to his right. He fist slamming into a trooper standing to his right confirmed this. Laying into the man Kallus smashed him against the bulkhead. The technician on the other side of the room made a lung for the comms panel. Kallus grabbed the fallen guard's pistol and fired. The technician fell to the floor, smoking from the super boosted bolt.

It was only then that Kallus turned his attention to Zeb still strapped to the torture rack, the electro-shocker going away on an program. He moved to the control panel and deactivate the shocker and released the restraints. Zeb moaned, blacked out from the torture. “Zeb?” Kallus asked approaching him. He was bruised all over from both their capture and the torture while parts of his fur was scorched. Kallus knew they had little time, while the soundproofed room have muffled the shot but someone could come in at anytime to discover them here or his own escape, but damn it. He leaped on Zeb giving him a long kiss. This appeared to stirred Zeb back to the land of the living as he returned the kiss. “Kallus, what the...?” Zeb asked breaking off the kiss.

“Don’t worry I took care of them,” Kallus pointed at the bodies. “But you were right, this was a terrible plan” he admitted.

“You weren’t to know.”

“That doesn’t change things. Are you able to move?” Kallus moved to the door to check out side. No alarms or running feet so far.

“I’ve had worse,” Zeb lied as he got out of the rack, wincing as he walked.

“Take these,” Kallus grabbed a set of adrenaline boosters from the room’s medkit, a good way of keeping prisoners alive during a session.

“Anyone know you’ve escaped?” Zeb hissed as he applied the booster.

“Not let but it's only a matter of time. Did get to meet their leader. A former ISB agent.”

“An old friend of yours?” Zeb joked.

“A little bit after my time. But I get the feeling he’s working on his own now.”

“So this isn’t some imperial remnant scheme?”

“No. Any imperial officer would court marshal a man for that uniform,” Kallus pointed at the unconscious guard.

“We still need to get off the ship. Not the first time we’ve done that,” Zeb said as the booster kicked in.

“You’re in no condition to fight, and we don’t have our Jedi friends this time,” Kallus cautioned. They’d both sensed the subtle change after Lothal, nothing was ever quite so easy.

“Do you have a better way?” Zeb asked picking up the technician’s side arm.

“Perhaps one that won’t end up with us against the entire ship,” Kallus replied as he began stripping the guard’s armour.

Kallus pushed the hovertrolley down the corridor when a group of troopers turned a corner. “Halt! What are you moving?” the sergeant, helmet less asked.

“The Lasat died under interrogation. I’ve been ordered to space the body” Kallus explained, stopping the trolley. The sergeant tugged at the sheet revealing a set of purple legs. “It's not pretty,” Kallus warned.

“The least it deserved,” the sergeant dropped the sheet “Carry on,” he said starting to move off.

“You should have seen how his friend reacted when we showed him the body,” Kallus commented.

There was a sudden grunt from under the sheet. “What was that?” one of the troopers said.

“Its this damn malfunctioning repulsorlift unit,” Kallus hit the edge of the trolley that whined in response. “Maintenance won’t fix it.”

“Tell me about it,” the trooper replied as the squad moved on. Kallus pushed the trolley on a bit before they came to a quiet section of corridor.

“Are you trying to get us killed?” he said lifting the top of the sheet.

“You didn’t have to lay it on so thick,” Zeb protested.

“Thicker the better. The bigger the lie the more people think it's someone else's problem. Now keep as still as possible.”

“Not easy when your sides are killing you,” Zeb said as Kallus replaced the sheet.

“If you need a break, shift you leg,” he said as they started moving again.

They made their way though the ship sticking to low population areas. Even so they passed a dozen patrols, all clearly bored of their job. They also passed a couple of work crews, a mix of imperial crewmen and what seemed to be prisoners taken during their attacks. Finally they reached their goal, the hangar bays without being discovered or any alarms being sounded. Parking the hovertrolley in a cargo area and making sure Zeb was hidden behind some crates Kallus scouted the hangers. As he thought while the ship had a lot of TIEs still in their racks the hanger floor was packed with a mix of non-imperial ships. Some ex-rebellion, a lot of private sector military and a few up gunned civilian craft.

He made his way up to the fighter squadron ready rooms where a briefing was taking place. “Alright people, Aurek squadron was badly mauled in the recent combat so we’re being rotated in early,” the squadron leader banged on his lectern at the moans. Kallus took up position guarding the doorway and listened in. “We’ve got a quota to keep and if we fail we don’t get a bonsus! Expect some of you to be reassigned to squadron to make up loses.”

“Next thing you tell us we’ll be flying with the shuttle pilots,” one of the pilots griped.

“Their unit has shown good kill rates,” the squadron leader said.

“Only because they used to fly stuff like freighters,” the pilot said.

“This ambush, can we expect more like them in the future?” one of the more professional pilots asked.

“Unknown. Intelligence is that the mercenary company they hired was pretty small and its leaders are currently held for our captain’s pleasure so they are unlikely to trouble us again. But they could call in larger groups. I think its safe to say we can expect more than freelance fighter escorts in future. ” the squadron leader explained clearly thankful for an intelligent question. “We’ve got two operations today. Cresh squadron is covering one of them and we’ve got the other. Four bulk ore transports. Our source as usual has given us their flight plan plus where and when they come out of hyperspace. Standard mission profile, get in, vap them and jump out.” He flashed several charts onto the screen behind him showing the route of the convoy. Kallus couldn’t see much from the door without being obvious. “Ok get to your ships. We launch in 15 minutes,” he added as the squadron studied the operation.

Slipping away from the door, Kallus headed back to where he’d left Zeb. He was conscious but had gone slightly pale beneath his fur. “Your holding up?” Kallus asked.

“Pretty well. Just tired of hiding behind a box,” Zeb replied.

“You know what I mean.”

“My left side,” Zeb admitted pointing to a serious burn on his side where they’d burned through his clothes.

“We can’t deal with it now. We’ve only got one chance off this ship. There is another attack leaving soon and we need to be on it,” Kallus explained.

“What are we waiting for?” Zeb said.

They moved to the entrance to the hanger bay trying to spot a suitable craft. Finally they spotted it, a light assault ship fuelling up. Problem was it was halfway across the hanger bay from where they were. Too far to sprint without being spotted. “I could be your prisoner,” Zeb suggested.

“You’re too wounded to be a prisoner. And why should I be escorting a prisoner across the hanger bay?” Kallus pointed out.

“Got a better plan?” No Kallus though they didn’t. They needed a distraction.

There was a loud bang on the other side of the hanger. A Z-95 Headhunter’s engine had blown during startup with black smoke pouring out of one of its air intakes. As damage control teams rushed over before a fire started all eyes were on the scene. “Now or never,” Zeb said. They started moving across the hanger floor quickly. Not running as such movement would attract attention more a rapid march. Zeb kept his hands behind his back as if cuffed with Kallus as his guard. It was crude and if anyone looked at them it wouldn’t last a second.

They almost made it all the way before a technician glanced up at them. “Hey trooper! No prisoners in the hanger!” he said bringing Zeb to a halt.

“Sorry. Priority transfer,” Kallus pushed Zeb on.

“Everyone uses this place as a rat run,” the tech muttered as she carried on.

They made it to the craft without further detection and entered the ship. One of the pilots in stranded imperial pilot uniform looked up as they entered. “Hey this isn’t a boarding mission. No joy riders,” he said before Zeb punched him out.

“Shit,” the co-pilot reached for the comms before Kallus grabbed him.

“Close the hatch, and stay out of sight,” he said. There was no time to hide the bodies so he propped one of them up in the co-pilot's seat. Didn’t want anyone seeing Zeb through the glass until they were in space. Zeb squeezed himself into one of the passenger seats, whizzing at the sudden burst of activity. “Keep them covered,” Kallus said as he tuned into the squadron’s tactical grid as the first craft lifted off. Not wishing to fall behind Kallus lifted the ship up and followed them out of the hanger.

“Get in formation!” the squadron leader said over the comms as the fighters struggled to get into formation as they gentled orbited the VSD. “Fly like TIE pilots. Not first year cadets! Once in the mission zone fly as free as you want. Especially you Heavy 2,” he added.

“Sorry sir, thrusters are a bit sluggish,” Kallus lied, recognising the call sign of their ship from the tactical network. The ship handled like it was a bulky shuttle, even a TIE bomber was better. Then again no TIE bomber could launch this many torpedoes as once. He lined up next to the other assault ship in the flight.

“Get maintenance on it when we return,” the leader noted. “Hyperdrive coordinates coming through now.”

The navicomputer beeped as hyperspace coordinates came in via the tactical grid. Kallus looked over at the coordinates. Now providing they hadn’t locked down the navicomputer or had it wired up to alert them to a change of coordinates they could alter them and jump away with the rest of the squadron and no-one would have any idea what happened. Of course it would have to be a safe destination that was along their current light path. “Got any ideas?” Kallus asked Zeb as he juggled possible destinations and orientations in his head.

“What?” Zeb glanced over, clearly not full here. Kallus bit his lip. He had to get him medical attention soon.

“All hold,” the flight controller suddenly cut through the chatter. “All missions are cancelled,all flights are ordered to return to base. A security alert has been issued.” Shit. Looks like their luck had run out. Going back was a dead sentence for Zeb and a painful one for him. Kallus gunned the engines.

“Heavy 2 you’re breaking formation!” a voice came over the comms. Kallus thumbed the list of possible destinations again hoping for somewhere safe.

“All units, Heavy 2 has gone rouge. Destroy them!” the comms went dead as they were severed from the tactical network. Suddenly a name in the list caught his eye. Perfect. Kallus angled his shields as the squadron chased after him. Now if the navicomputer could finish before the VSD locked its tractor beam on him.

A laser bolt scattered off the shields. The rest of the flight was practical on top of him. If any got in front of him they’d be trapped but then he remembered how much forward firepower this thing had. The navicomputer wailed as emergency hyperspace calculations were finally calculated. Praying that the computer was actually right Kallus slammed the ship into lightspeed.

* * *

Kallus looked on as the New Republic Navy medics carried Zeb away on a stretcher in the ship’s hanger bay while another checked him other. He looked up as familiar figure approached, speaking with the medics and engineers checking over the ship. A few security officers standing around confused or escorting the two pilots he’d captured away.

“I understand he’ll be OK,” Hera said, signalling the security officers to depart.

“Yes they told me. Neurological damage from repeated stun shots, plus the physical injuries from the torture,” Kallus explained, more to process it internally. “Thanks for this,” he added suddenly.

“No problem this is what the New Republic Navy is supposed to be about,” Hera reassured. “You being an old friend doesn’t matter. So did you come seeking assistance for New Republic help or me in particular?”

“Will admit that I saw the system and remembered you were based here for a time, and it was a quick recalculation. But it's good to see a familiar face,” Kallus admitted.

“What kind of trouble did you get into?” Hera asked.

“Mission gone wrong. Pirates turned out to be imperial remnants. Can I use your communications? I need to contact the rest of the squadron,” Kallus explained standing up suddenly. He had to find out who had escaped safely.

“Sure come to my cabin,” Hera said leading him across the hanger bay.

Kallus filled Hera in on what had happened as they walked though the ship. “I’ll get my intelligent analysts on it. See what we have on our files, but it sounds like you were lucky to escape with your lives,” she said giving orders to an aide.

“We were,” Kallus admitted. “You’ve got an impressive ship here,” he added, switching the subject quickly to avoid thinking about it.

“Nine months out of the dry dock, and they are already talking about mothballing her,” she said.

“Not a fan of Mon Mothma’s policy of galactic disarmament?”

“What do you think?” Hera had disagreed with Mothma many times over the years since she had refused to support them on Lothal. “I had to fight just to keep the Republic Navy patrolling the Outer Rim, even with the few ships they gave us.”

“So are you planning to be an admiral long term?” Kallus asked as they arrived at a bulkhead with Hera’s name on it

“Got my letter to resignation written in my cabin. Spend too many days just dealing with bureaucracy and politics even out here. That and Jacen had been without a mother for too long,” Hera said swiping the hatch open.

“What will you do?” Kallus asked as they entered.

“Not sure,” she admitted switching on the communication system. “Might go back to help rebuild Ryloth. Anything that isn’t war.”

“I think we all thought we wanted that at some point” Kallus said as Hera stepped aside to allow him to connect to Firebird Squadron’s comms.

“Yes I heard about you and Zeb’s Firebird Squadron. A reference to the phoenix days?”

“Zeb suggested it. We were going to go for spectre but it didn’t test well,” Kallus admitted.

The comms request was finally accepted, the hologram switching to a worried Plo. “Sir, it's good to hear from you. Are you safe?” she exclaimed recognising Kallus.

“It's good to see you too. Yes we are both alive though Zeb has been wounded.” Kallus said. It was good that Plo had pulled though. “We were able to escape the enemy ship and asked the New Republic Navy for assistance. I understand Zeb is going to be fine,” he continued giving her a rough outline of what had happened.

“Good. We had been preparing a rescue plan,” Plo said.

“Surely you wouldn’t be so foolish?” Kallus said, there was nothing the squadron had that could take on a VSD and its fighter wing.

“We aren’t going to abandon you sir,” Plo said.

“Thank you. How many of you were able to escape?”

“Trins, Zana, Kell and Dyles didn’t make it. Jyn is spending a month in bacta. As far as we can tell the _Acasta_ went down with all hands” Plo reported.

“They fought bravely. Have you informed their kin?” Kallus asked, this had always proved the hardest part of leadership.

“We’re working on it but Zana had no family left and Trins’s people are spread across half the rim,” Plo started explaining.

“Just do the best you can.” Joining the rebellion had made the job even worse, for the empire it was a form already filled out for you. Hell he could even remember the form number. Impersonal. Something you could do by the box load. Which he had done many times. In the rebellion it felt like he had to put effort into every single message, to give some personal justification for why they had died. Even if as he found out later, many of them would never reach their recipients.

There was a knock on the door door. “Come!” Hera ordered. An intelligence officer entered and handed her a dataslate with a look of disapproval at the open holocall. “give us a moment,” Kallus said to Plo, ending the call but left the connection open. satisfied the officer left. “Seems we’ve got some info on your captor, Chedona.” she said reading the dataslate. “Wanted by Republic prosecutors for war crimes against civilian populations and torture of prisoners.”

“He did seem to enjoy the old fashioned methods,” Kallus noted.

“Quite so if this is accurate. Believed to be in command of the _Agamemnon_. That must have been the ship that captured you. Last sighted halfway across the rim. Certainly gets around. Might also be one of the unidentified ships that raided the decommissioning station on Cara,” she continued reading though the report.

“I didn’t hear about that?” Kallus said.

“No one outside the military is supposed to know. I understand they made off with a star destroyer's worth of stuff. Literally. This is all highly classified but I think your clearance is still good.”

“I doubt your aide thought so,” Kallus said.

“He's a stickler for protocol. Too much imperial training,” Hera commented.

“So you’d say this Chedona is major target?”

“Certainly the biggest we’re come across so far. Most of them seem to have gone to ground.”

“And capturing him would be a major coup for the Navy?”

“Certainly give us some ammunition to stop them cutting our budget even further,” Hera smiled knowing Kallus was planning something.

“Well I think I know a way of solving both of our problems,” Kallus turned back to the comms station and reconnected with Plo. “OK Plo, we’ve got a plan to get back at them, this is what we will do.”

* * *

The assault ship tumbled through space out of control near a deep space dust cloud. Multiple impacts dotted its hull and one of its wings was bent out of shape. Leaking fuel and atmospheric gases hung frozen around it. “Mayday! Mayday! Ship critically damage. Need assistance,” the exhausted voice of Kallus crackled across the comms channels along with an automated distress signal. Clearly the ship had attempted an incompletely calculated hyperspace jump and clipped the dust belt. It was a miracle the ship hadn’t been vaporised. A ship came out of hyperspace nearby, a small corvette and approached.

“We hear you friendly. Rescue teams are standing by,” a voice said over the comms

“Be quick, life support is failing. My partner has been seriously wounded,” Kallus’s voice replied.

“They certainly did a number on setting up the ship,” Plo commented watching the sensor feeds of spacesuited figures trying to grapple with the ship.

“We had to make it look convincing to long range scans” Kallus explained standing next to her perfectly fine.

“You sell it as well,” Plo added. Kallus sniffed, just a bunch of pre-recorded messages on a timer or activated by short range signals.

“Now we just need for them to take the bait,” he said.

“What makes you think they’ll fall for it a second time?”

“This time it will be personal for Chedona. He wouldn’t want any survivors to compromise his operation. Being imperial would bring the republic down on him.”

“Well I hope we don’t lose another corvette.” Plo refocused on the sensors again.

“It's no good the airlock is warped, we will need to set up an air seal before we start cutting,” the captain reported. “To all available ships we have a ship in distress. Unable to perform rescue without specialist equipment. Request support from any larger ships in range,” he continued, this time broadcasting on an open channel.

“We have contact!” someone off screen said as something large came out of hyperspace. Kallus barely had to wait for the sensor relay to confirm it was a Victory class star destroyer.

“Get us there now!” Kallus ordered.

The jump only took a few seconds. Firebird Squadron was getting good at them. The _Arquitens_ class light cruiser was the _Phoenix,_ Hera hadn’t asked too strongly where they’d gotten it, the flagship of their little fleet and given how expensive it was to keep manned and running they were looking at small stuff only for the future. They returned to realspace to see the star destroyer bearing down on the corvette. They moved to head off the Victory, allowing the corvette to fall back behind them. The _Agamemnon_ had been powering towards the assault ship but halted when the _Phoenix_ had arrived.

“They’re hailing us,” the comms officer reported.

“Put them through,” Kallus ordered, giving an additional signal to Plo.

“It appears I underestimated you again, Alexsandr” Chedona’s voice echoed across the voice only communication, “But did you really think a light cruiser, a corvette and a few fighters would be enough to beat me?”

“They are powering weapons and shield,” the tactical officer reported.

“I’m not going to do it,” Kallus said.

The New Republic cruiser burst out of hyperspace behind the _Agamemnon_ on Plo’s signal.

“This is General Hera Syndulla of the _Dawn of Tranquility_ . You are ordered to stand down and surrender you vessel!” came the call on all frequencies. There was a snarl from Chedona before the line was cut. There was a moment of silence before a burst of turbolaser fire lashed out striking the _Phoenix._

“So that’s his answer. Return fire. Plo, get the pilots in the air!” Kallus said as the ship rocked from the impact.

“What will you be doing?” she asked as she made for the hanger bay.

“Preparing the boarding party” Kallus said adjusting his helmet.

He walked through the ruined hallways, as he expected the _Agamemnon_ had fought hard but there had been no way it could outfight one of the new MC85s along with the _Phoenix ._ The enemy had made an attempt to contest their landing in the main hangar bay, entrenched E-Webs and grenadiers but an x-wing hovering overhead had turned pretty much everything in the hanger to scrap and shot though several compartments allowing them to bypass the strong points leading off the hanger. After that resistance dropped off as it became pretty much a mopping up operation, scattered firefights with split up squads or lone ratings. Most of the crew they came across were found drunk or high on death sticks. Others dead by their own hands, tearful last messages recorded by their bodies. It all reminded Kallus of the worst stories he’d heard about Jakku. An all throughout the ship they found prisoners, captured crewmen from the freighters, people conscripted from random planets and bought slaves. Clearly they had been vital in keeping the ship operating.

Kallus finally reached the team cutting though the last of the bulkheads that separated the command decks from the rest of the ship. The republic trooper looked at Kallus for confirmation before setting the breaching charge to blow the final bulkhead. Kallus nodded, readying his borrowed rifle. The combat engineer activated the charge and pulled back, followed seconds later by the explosion.

Kallus looked up to see a large hole in the bulkhead as the engineer lobbed a smoke grenade to provide some cover. The rest of the men surged forward, out into the corridor to the command centre, firing at anything that moved. However they were meet only a confused protocol droid that was blown apart by blasters fired on instinct. As the squads fanned out to clear the surrounding rooms with flash bangs Kallus and the rest approached the final corridor that lead to the command suites, sealed behind blast doors.

“Ok! We wish to parley!” cried out a familiar voice over the intercom. Kallus stepped forward before the republic sergeant could refuse.

“Is that you Chedona?” he asked, there would be a concealed camera somewhere above him.

“Agent Kallus, it is good that you are alive” Chedona said as the first set of blast doors opened. He was flanked by a squad of highly decorated storm troopers, clearly his personal guard, Kallus’s bo-rifle held loosely in his hands.

“Just Kallus to you. I believe you have something of mine,” Kallus said stepping forward, his blaster trained on Chedona.

“An interesting weapon. Pity I never got to try it out,” he commented, slowly putting the weapon down and sliding it along the corridor towards Kallus.

“What do you want?” Kallus picked up the bo-rifle carefully, keep his eye trained on Chedona.

“Despite my best efforts it is clear that you have beaten me and that further resistance is useless. Therefore I will freely surrender my vessel if the republic will show some leniency towards me and my men.”

“You don’t really have much to bargain with. We already control engineering and damage control. Especially given what we’ve seen,” Kallus pointed out. The cargo holds full of malnourished slaves.

“You don’t know what I know,” Chedona smiled.

“Like what?” Kallus asked.

“Secrets that you will never find,” Chedona stepped forward to whisper into his ear.

“I’ll see whether Hera will agree,” Kallus said as Chedona finished.

“Oh I’m sure she will,” Chedona returned to his troops. “By the way did the Lasat survive?”

“Yes, Zeb’s alive,” Kallus’s fist tightened around the blaster.

“Good. I hate to make personal grudges.” Kallus thought about shooting him right there, but if what he had just heard was true they needed him. At least for the time being.

* * *

Ryen beamed as he walked down a flight of stairs into the Oathean council room where Kallus, Zeb, Hera along with several republic officers waited. “So this is the leader of our band of pirates. A former imperial. I should have guessed a military mind behind this,” he commented on Chedona in restraints and flanked by two troopers. Chedona remained silent and calm.

“He certainly proved tough to take out,” Zeb said.

“I understand you were wounded when you were captured. I hope you are making a full recovery?” Ryen asked.

“I will in time,” Zeb eyed Chedona darkly, scratching at the still fresh artificial skin transplants.

“I will ensure you both receive a bonus for your heroism,” Ryen said before turning to Hera.

“General Hera Syndulla, I appreciate the assistance of the New Republic in dealing with this matter.”

“The New Republic is always happy to help bring stability to the outer rim. Though this situation could have been avoided if you had joined the New Republic,” Hera said pointedly.

“At the time we did not think it advisable to rush to join an unproved government but after today, perhaps we might reconsider,” Ryen replied.

“But this man has nearly brought ruin to this planet and destroyed many of our ships. As you have revealed he has even taken some of my people as slaves. I must insist that he remain here to stand trial for his crimes,” he continued, an air of command slipping into his voice.

“I’m sorry that is not possible,” Hera said stepping forward. “Chedona is wanted for war crimes against the galaxy of the highest level.”

“I must insist. The people must see justice done,” Ryen protested.

“Chedona will get his trial, some day.”

“Admiral, surely we can come to some kind of understanding on this. Perhaps if Chedona remained here for trial under your supervision before he continued on.

“I think you will find the galactic concordance stimulated that for war crime suspects such charges that president over local charges. Your government did sign the concordance,” Hera pointed out. Ryen looked hard at Hera for a second before admitting defeat.

“Of course. We must ensure that proper justice is done,” he said calmly but hollow.

“I don’t think you should be too put out” Kallus said. “You will be joining him.”

Everyone in the group drew their weapons. Ryen recoiled backwards in shock. His bodyguards stepped forward, guns raised but Zeb aimed his recovered bo-rifle at them. “drop them,” he ordered. After a moments calculation the guards lowered their weapons. “What is the meaning of this?” Ryen shouted as the rest of the group secured the entrances.

“Chairman Tel Ryen, I am placing you under arrest for violating the galactic concordance and consorting with known criminals. My men are at this time dissolving the ruling council and disarming your military. Please do not resist,” Hera stated.

“You won’t get away with this. This is nothing more than a New Republic power grab,” Ryen protested, pulling out his own blaster. Zeb shifted his aim to Ryen but he did not raise the blaster.

“It's no good Tel,” Chedona finally spoke. “I’ve cut a deal.” Ryen suddenly went still.

“The one things about this case that puzzled me is that there was no clear profit in these attacks,” Kallus said. “Pirates don’t want raw ore or processed metals enough to attack transports so regularly. Especially when they turn out to be imperial renegades.” He looked at Chedona. “That meant that they were hired by someone else, most of the megacorps have their own black ops teams and would target the mines or the factories directly. That left someone on Oathea directly.”

“Perhaps an anarchist cell?” Ryen suggested feebly.

“Consorting with imperial? Where would they get that kind of money?” Zeb scoffed.

“Exactly, that means one of the elites. Someone who had high level access to industrial shipments to feed the flight plans to the pirates. Then when we capture Chedona he tells us that you hired him to attacks specific transports, protecting the majority of you and your allies own ships while hitting your rivals the hardest,” Kallus continued.

“Are you really going to believe the word of a war criminal?” Ryen asked?

“Not necessary but his logs did confirm he received transmissions, without a sender's id of course, containing the flight plans.”

“As you said yourself, no proof of my involvement. Anyway, why would I want to ruin my own planet?”

“Because of what Chedona also said you hired him to provide” Kallus said triumphantly pulling out a datapad. “A functioning hyperdrive and the components needed to reactivate the weapon system on the ISD in orbit. All stolen from Cara.”

“I had men infiltrate the so called _Star of Peace_ , the confirmed the weapons had been reactivated and the hyperdrive replaced,” Hera said.

“You double crossing rat!” Ryen suddenly spat at Chedona, his blaster twitched. Everyone tensed but Ryen didn’t raise the weapon. Kallus checked that his bo-rifle was on stun.

“Hey! I saw a way to save my own neck and took it,” Chedona protested.

“Hardly! You can expect to spend the rest of your days in jail,” Zeb said.

“Better that than a disintegration chamber.”

“So do you admit this, Chairman?” Hera asked.

“Fine I admit it,” Ryen said, dropping his blaster to the floor. “I did hire Chedona and his ship to impersonate pirates and attack our supply shipments.”

“why?” Kallus asked.

“So I could force a crisis that would allow me to build a strong military openly. That it was necessary to secure the local systems to deal with the pirates. While Chedona would disappear.”

“Surely you didn’t expect the New Republic to sit by?” Hera asked.

“Hah, the New Republic” Ryen laughed. “Look beyond Mon Mothma and the military and the New Republic is weak and divided. And Mothma has already crippled the military. I’m reliable informed there is enough people in the senate that wouldn’t complain about a little infraction in the name of law and order.”

“While you build yourself a miniature empire?” Kallus asked.

“Rebuild the empire? Why would I want to do that? This is about business.” Ryen replied.

“How do you mean?”

“Simple economics. We do not directly control the planets Oathea imports its raw materials from. Now that they are free from imperial control contracts are up for renewal and most of them want price increases. Doing so would ruin our competitiveness on the galactic economy. Some are even talking about trading with other planets. The only way I could prevent that from happening was if we took over the planets directly. In the name of security of course,” Ryen explained.

“The old imperial playbook. You’ve really did all of this just to protect your own business interests?” Kallus noted.

“I didn’t become leader of this planet not to make money. Its not like the corporate sector hasn’t done worse,” Ryen admitted.

“The one thing I don’t get is why you hired us? Why undermine your own plan?” Zeb asked.

“It wasn’t my idea. The council panicked before I was ready. Demanded we hired mercenaries to solve our pirate problem. Of course I had to make a show of it, so I hired one of the best. Plus I understood Chedona had a personal interest in you.”

“You could say that,” Zeb said, scratching at his wounds again while glowering at Chedona.

Hera’s comms beeped. “You’ve secured the ship?” she asked, knowing it was the strike team tasked with securing the _Star of Peace_ on the other end.

“Without firing a shot. Most seemed to believe we were simply on an inspection tour” the voice came through on the other end.

“Good work. See what they can tell you about repairs to the hyperdrive. They must have known what they were doing,” Hera ordered. “Ok lets get them to the shuttle. Last thing we need is somebody deciding to be the hero and attempting a rescue.” She pointed at Chedona and Ryen.

“There is no need. I will come quietly,” Ryen said when a soldier approached with handcuffs. Hera nodded. With simply a firm grip on his shoulder Ryen walked out of the room.

“I take it my honour as an officer isn’t as valued?” Chedona asked as he was dragged away.

“He didn’t torture my friends or run a slave ship, Get him out of my sight.” Hera replied.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of reworked this a bit to make it better

“You have all heard Chairman Ryen’s confession and the other evidence we have collected. I hope this is enough to get your support for these actions,” Hera addressed the hurriedly assembled members of the of the ruling council after showing them the recording of Ryen’s arrest and the information Chedona had given them.

“These are of course serious allegations that must be investigated fully ” said Hersh Arcaina, General Secretary of the factory workers union said forcefully.

“We of course agree. However we must also protest this effective invasion!” Goza Katar of the Oathean mineral conglomerate protested. “We were practically dragged here,” she indicated the armed New Republic troopers around the room while Kallus and Zeb sat at the end of the table.

“The New Republic of course respects your sovereignty but given Ryen’s apparent intentions to militarise Oathea we concluded it was best to move against him as soon as possible. Once we are sure all of his supporters are in custody control will returned to you,” Hera explained.

“You could have at least informed us. Allow us to confront him with you,” Goza said.

“I hear that didn’t go well with Palpatine,” Zeb commented.

“I would point out that under the concordance this government is no longer recognised by the New Republic and I could have simply arrest you all for working with a war criminal,” Hera’s voice became tired of the councillors hostility. “However as not to destabilise the situation further, I think it might be better if you formed a new government yourselves. After investigations have proved you were all uninvolved,” she continued, adopting a more conciliatory tone. She’d seen too often how worlds like Ryloth freed from tyranny went into meltdown and ruin as old scores were settled. Perhaps that could be avoided again here. “One that actually has the best aims of the people in mind,” she added glancing at the corporate body already frantically whispering to each other. 

“ I suppose we should be grateful for your discretion,” Hersh said looking pleased.

“I hope you are not planning to engage in a power grab,” Goza asked.

“Hardly, simply correct some of the excesses Ryen granted you,” Hersh countered.

“I would point out that under your current constitution any decision of the council must be passed by a majority and without the chairman you are tied,” Hera cut in before the meeting devolved into squabbling. Hersh and Goza glared at each other for a moment.

“Perhaps there is some room for tax and spending increases,” Goza admitted, blinking first. “If the promised opening up of workshops to non union members take place,” she added before Hersh could reply.

“There is another thing,” Zeb asked before the negotiations to totally underway. “Are we going to be paid? Our contract was with Ryen but I doubt he’s is going to fulfil it.”

“For bringing this situation to light, the council will of course pay your agreed fees, plus additional for any casualties you took” Goza agreed quickly.

“Plus a matching voluntary donation to the veteran's fund,” Kallus quickly added.

“Of course,” Goza said glancing over at Hersh who signalled his acceptance.

Kallus and Zeb left them meet to grind on, coming back a few hours later to check on Hera. “They’re close to a deal. Just every time we move onto a new point there is a dozen proposals and a dozen more objections,” explained, taking a break as mediator to take a glass of water from a dispenser.

“That doesn’t sound like agreement to me.”

“They all want to keep their power, even the worker unions and political parties don’t want to upset the status quo too much. But everyone wants to safe face or say they got the best deal for their group,” Hera glugged the water down.

“Will the people be any freer?”

“A little more, the corporate elite are still going to be running the show but they seem to be willing to have a fully elective assembly so hopefully someone else can finish the job. I’ve also gotten them to push for republic membership but I’ve done all that I can.”

“How is the Republic taking it?” Kallus asked, also getting a drink.

“The senate is sending their own team to take overt the investigation from the military and investigate whether officers overstepped their jurisdiction,” Hera said.

“That bad?”

“Privately I’ve been told this will be my last command.” Hera looked almost please at the situation. “Still its a better way to go out that simply giving up.”

“I’d drink to that,” Kallus said getting Hera another one.

“Thanks,” she accepted. “You might want to pull your people out now unless you want to spend months tied down in this investigation. You will still be called to give evidence but at least you can deal with it at arms length.”

“Surely that not proper protocol,” Kallus pointed out.

“Chalk it up as another of my command failings,” Hera said smiling. “You also might want this” she added thrusting a stack of datadiscs into his hand.

“What are these?” Kallus asked but Hera was already slipping back into the conference room.

Zeb sat on the sunbed trying to relax but failing. He’d hoped their return to Laminov with its pristine beaches and sunlit skies would allow him to recover fully but something was gnawing at him. The beaches had lost their lustre, instead feeling static and lifeless, far from the tension of the real world. Even the air felt wrong, too quiet and still. Like at any moment stormtroopers would burst up out of the sand. Damned combat instincts, you’re not in danger now, Zeb thought but his mind refused to obey. Perhaps he should see the droid about upping his medication. He knew that the torture had scarred him mentally but nothing had hit him like this before. Perhaps it was the adrenaline of it all, or perhaps part of him wanted to back fighting for his life. Zeb pushed that thought to the back of his mind and went to inside, perhaps hitting the gym for a few hours would give his body what it wanted.

As he entered the living area he saw Kallus working heavily  at a terminal. “Caught too much sun?” Kallus said  noticing Zeb come in.

“No, just didn’t feel in the mood.  Thought I’d hit the gym .  Lost too much mass in the hospital” Zeb answered. “What are you working on?”

“ Those data drives that Hera gave us contained  Chedona  data files. While he was very willing to finger Ryen he shut up tight about everything else he’d done. Its clear he had help with the raid on Cara so that might give us a lead on other imperial remnants,” Kallus explained.

“So what progress have you made?”  Zeb asked pulling up a stool.

“Not much. Looks like he had time to destroy some of it, we’re running reconstruction programmes but that will take days. Plo thinks she’d found  this client list atleast but its so encrypted we won’t know for some time. ” Kallus showed Zeb the related file structures.

“And what do we do once we have some leads?” Zeb said.

“We find them and bring them to justice.”

“This for the republic?” but Zeb could already guess the answer.

“No, from what I saw the New Republic wants stuff like this forgotten. We’re doing this for the good of the galaxy.”

“I thought we were only did contract work? We agreed no heroics or personal crusades,” Zeb pointed out. It has been Kallus who had insisted after that time they had come across a group of slavers that handled many of his people after the fall of Lasan. Zeb admitted that afterwards he had lost control. 

“ Surely you don’t want to turn your back on this? Especially after what they did to you?” Kallus  said .

“Gods no!” Zeb  said . “ W e  need to hunt these guys down,  b ut  as you say it may be days before Plo has anything useful to show,”  his became serious. “ But I want to talk about  our future  together .”

“ What do you mean?” Kallus asked, turning off the workstation,  he could feeling this was important.

“ We got in a bad spot  during this mission,”  Zeb explained, his face concerned.  “I mean we could have died.” 

“It was petty bad, but we came though it.”

“ Yeah but I’ ve thinking.  W hat if  one of us doesn’t make it out next time?”

“Don’t start thinking like that,” Kallus said, thinking back to the mission as well. “We survived and that’s what matters,” he took one of Zeb’s hand in his. “I know them torture you hurt you bad but I’ve seen you bounce back from worse.”

“Still I think if we are to continue in this business. Especially if we start going off chasing the empire again,” Zeb explained hesitantly. “I want to take our relationship to the next level.”

Kallus did a slight double take at Zeb’s statement. “You mean marriage right?” he asked. “you’ve never suggested it before.”

“I suppose so,” Zeb said ruffling his fur in embarrassment. “Its just I want some kind of official recognition that we love each other.” This had gone so much better in his head.

“That’s your proposal?” Kallus laughed. “I thought you were supposed to present a ring?” he continued.

“Lasats don’t do rings. They catch under the fur. We traditionally went more into braiding,” Zeb said.

“Well then my love. I’ll let you braid my hair,” Kallus replied hugging him.

“And I’ll let you braid mine,” Zeb replied, kissing him back. Despite his embarrassment this still felt like the best moment in his long life.

“So is there a kind of ceremony involved? I’m afraid I never found out if you Lasat’s had any special marital customs,” Kallus asked.

“Well traditionally was a short ceremony and then the new partners would mate there and then with the rest of the families looking on,” Zeb said, remembering old school lessons.

“Surely you can’t be serious,” Kallus said, at look at horror on his face at the prospect.

“Don’t worry. I said traditionally,” Zeb said. “Nobody was doing the last part in my day.”

“Good. Because I’m not sure how my mother would take watching us fuck,” Kallus said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“I don’t know, we could  if she’s interested, ”  a mischievous expression crossing Zeb’s face.

“Zeb!” Kallus said, knowing he wasn’t serious.

“It was only a suggestion,” Zeb said holding up his hands. “I suppose we could find some other religion to do the ceremony.”

“I’ve got no preference. There are enough in the galaxy,” Kallus replied. After seeing so much of the galaxy most religions started to see the same with some actively marketing themselves on their genericness.

“We can decide which one later,” Zeb said, scooping Kallus up in his arms. “In the meantime I think we should consummate our marriage right now.”

“You know you’re supposed to that that after the ceremony,” Kallus pointed out. Always one for details.

“Do you mind?” Zeb asked as he carried him to bedroom.

“No,” he admitted, blushing slightly as they walked, Zeb knew that he loved it when he carried him around.

Plopping him onto the bed he paused to strip off his jumpsuit while Kallus struggled to undo his shorts. He had only undone the buckle by the time Zeb was naked and ready.

“Why do you always wear should complicated clothes,” Zeb complained, giving him at helping hand.

“Because they drive you crazy,” Kallus said as Zeb pulled the shorts and underwear beneath them off in one movement. He slid his massive hands across Kallus’s bare skin and watched as he writhed under his touch. Years of imperial chastity had left him rather sensitive which Zeb always got a kick out of. 

“Given I was out for several days while you were  off saving the day how about you do the same by taking it fully?” he asked  as they made out.

“You know I can take it,” Kallus said, running his hands across Zeb’s rising cock. Zeb knew that he probably wouldn’t be walking right for a month after taking cock fully but what the hell, they had something to celebrate.

“I know you can, my love,” Zeb said reaching for the lube. Looking out over the beautiful beach though their bedroom’s windows it felt like all their problems were so far away they didn’t matter. For the next few days all that actually matter was him and Kallus.


End file.
